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Pesticides could threaten Aussie bees

Andrew Drummond

A European crackdown on pesticides which pose a threat to bee populations is a wake-up call for Australia, where local populations of the insects are also at risk, experts say.

But local industry says the plan to ban a trio of chemicals - imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam - from use on some crops and during particular seasons across Europe should be treated with caution.

The pesticides, all currently approved for use in Australia, are categorised as neonicotinoids and are chemically related to nicotine.

The European Commission was presented with evidence to suggest a correlation between use of the pesticides and a decline in bee numbers.

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"This statement from the EU shows they are concerned and we should take it very seriously in Australia also," the head of the University of Western Australia's Centre for Integrative Bee Research, Boris Baer, told AAP.

"We still have a lot of wild bees and if these are in the forest then they may not be exposed to these pesticides, which are used on commercial crops. But it is worth making further investigations."

CropLife Australia, representing the agricultural chemical and plant science sector, said the European decision was based on flawed evidence and would prove costly for farmers.

"The Australian experience in particular completely undermines an argument that neonicotinoids are the cause of bee colony collapse disorder," CropLife chief Matthew Cossey said.

"Australian farmers rely on neonicotinoids to prevent their crops from being destroyed by pests, but Australia also has one of the healthiest bee colonies in the world."

The chairman of the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council, Lindsay Bourke, who has been a keeper in northern Tasmania for more than four decades, said there should be balance between the need to protect crops and ensuring continued pollination.

"How we move forward from here has got to be based on science - field tests though, not experiments carried out in a lab," Mr Bourke said.

"My theory is that bees seem to get disoriented when they work on a crop treated with neonicotinoids, and they can't find their way back to the hive.

"But that's only my experience, and it's not shared by all keepers so more research needs to be done."

Mr Bourke and Professor Baer agree the greatest threat to Australia's bee population is an outbreak of Varroa mite.

"Australia is the last remaining spot on the planet that does not have the mite, which would bring catastrophic results for the bees here should it reach these shores," Prof Baer said.

Fifteen European governments voted on Monday in support of a two-year ban of the pesticides, defeating eight objectors, including Britain.